By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Human remains found near Cochiti 23 years ago are not the bones of a missing person — they belong to a man who walked the region roughly 1,000 years ago, the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office announced June 5.
Detective Don Chewning said forensic family genealogy testing, funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and conducted by Othram Labs of The Woodlands, Texas, in 2025 pointed to possible family connections with the Laguna Pueblo and the Navajo Nation. A maize-heavy dietary signature in the remains further supported the ancient-origin conclusion, the sheriff’s office said.
Two hikers discovered the skull and tibia protruding from an arroyo bank near Cochiti Highway and Dome Road on Feb. 6, 2003. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator excavated the skeletal remains at the time; an initial autopsy estimated the man was 40-45 years old and either Hispanic or Native American.
No missing person report matching that description was ever filed. Investigators also noted the man had been buried in a seated position — a practice documented in several Native American cultures — with no clothing or artifacts, prompting the case to be reopened in 2025.
Forensic anthropologist Dr. Cortney N. Hulse of the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator conducted a second evaluation in 2026 and concluded the remains were likely ancestral. The University of New Mexico subsequently confirmed that conclusion through radiocarbon (C-14) and isotopic testing. Repatriation of the remains falls under the jurisdiction of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office
- Phone: 505-867-7640
- Web: sandovalcountynm.gov